A New Challange
by Dont-Eat-My-Pie
Summary: Castle has been kidnapped by a ruthless young woman. but why and how is Beckett going to save him before she has her way? This will get quite scary. Please comment and so forth : :
1. His Worst Nightmare

Castle twirled around in his chair as Beckett grew more and more frustrated. She turned to him. 'Could you stop? Please?'

'I'm bored! There hasn't been a case in weeks!'

'That's a good thing Castle, means that no one's been killed.'

'What about a good old fashioned kidnap?'

'Okay, I'll kidnap you. Lock you in the closet and leave you there.' Her voice was sarcastic now but it was still light so Castle knew she was kidding around.

'Not nice Kate, not nice.'

He got up from his chair and walked around playing with things from her desk. 'Just, stop or I'm going to shoot you.' She sighed. 'Go home Castle, I'll call you if anything comes up.'

He sighed back. 'Okay I got stuff to do anyway.' That was a lie; he had nothing to do so instead of sitting around doing nothing, he would go home and write more to his new book.

.

.

He walked to his car and pressed the unlock button and jumped in. He would make a stop off at his favorite coffee shop before going home. It was a ritual. He would always have a perfect cup of coffee before he started writing.

As he got back to his car the streets seemed empty. He flicked the 'unlock' button and the door clicked. Loud footsteps clopped towards him. High heels and they were running urgently.

'Help me please!' a girl shrieked and grabbed Castles arm.

'What's wrong?' he answered back.

'My ex boyfriend is following me and I want to go home. Can you take me home, please?' Her eyes were a a deep sapphire blue and her long brown hair was messed and tatty, but she was still beautiful.

'Hop in my car.' Castle answered and she obeyed quickly, jumping into the front seat. He jumped in too and drove fast.

.

.

They drove down the street for a while. 'Where do you live?'

'Down just on the edge of town. Farlay Street. Number 206.'

'Okay then.'

They continued their small talk and he found out her name was Jennifer Moon, she was 23 years old and she lived on her own. When they reached her house Castle looked it up and down. 'Wow, nice place.'

'Can you come inside with me, just until I know he's not in there, or any of his friends?' She looked terrified. Her eyes were wide and her hands were still shaking.

'Sure.' He hopped out of the car and walked her inside her house.

She checked each room carefully and returned back to the living room. 'No one's here.' She sighed. 'Thank you for everything, I don't even know you.' She smiled.

'That's alright. It was my pleasure.' He smiled back.

'Please, have some coffee before you go. I feel rude.' She skipped into the kitchen before he could refuse. He had a coffee in the car but he wasn't going t refuse, she had been through a lot today perhaps she needed company and he could easily go get himself another coffee.

She soon returned with two coffees and pasted him one. He sipped at it. 'Thank you.'

'So you're a writer?'

'Yes, a mystery writer.'

'That's amazing.' She took a sip of her coffee. 'Have a seat' she sat on the lounge chair. He sat next to her and sipped more at his coffee. 'And you do well? I'm sorry, I haven't read your books but I will after this.' She giggled.

He smiled back, yes I do well. I had a series of books that I just finished and now I'm working on something new and different.'

'That's great. I just work at a clothes shop at the register.'

He looked around her house was beautiful. It was only one story but it was well decorated and cozy. 'If you don't mind me asking…'

'Of course.'

'You're house is beautiful. Your only 23 years old and you work in retail. How do you afford such a nice place?'

'I own it. I inherited a lot of money from my parents when they died. I put it into some stocks and it just grew. So basically I don't need to work, but I do. It keeps me busy.'

'Amazing.' He sipped more at his coffee.

'Not really, just lucky in the stocks. I miss my parents though. I was an only child.'

Castle began to feel dizzy and his body became weak. He put his coffee on the coffee table.

'What's wrong?'

'I don't feel well.' He tried to get to his feet but fell back onto the chair.

'Don't move. You'll be alright.' She smiled at him as she stroked his cheek.

'What? What's going on?' He looked down at the coffee than back at her. 'You drugged me?'

'Just relax; you'll feel better when you wake.'

He tried to fight it but there was no going back. His eyes crept shut and soon everything was black.


	2. You're A Challange

When Castle woke he was tied to a chair with thick zip ties. He struggled against them but it was no use. He took a look at his surroundings. To his left were a flight of stairs so he had to be underground. To his right was a bare brick ball and across the room was a table with a chair both were made from polished wood. He couldn't make out what was on the table but he didn't really want to know. He looked up when he heard footsteps creak above him.

A door opened and a woman walked down the stairs. It was Jennifer. She walked calmly towards him. She knelt down in front of him and smiled. It was a cold smile, like stone cracking. 'Richard Castle.'

He stayed silent. Something told him that if even if he wanted to talk, no sound would come out. Her warmth was gone; it was replaced with a dark twisted fear. She eyes only resembled ice now far from the quirky, shy girl he saved from a pretend boyfriend.

'It was so easy all the other times. All I had to do was tell them to get in my car and…' She snapped her finger. They obeyed. They came to my hotel, drank my wine and fell asleep, only to wake up to me... It was so easy... Too easy I say.' She looked Castle up and down. She ran her perfectly manicured finger down his now bare chest. 'Richard Castle! The famous writer who works with the FBI? So many people are gonna be looking for you, but they won't find you... I'll never get caught.'

'They'll...' He broke his silence. They'll find you…'

'They won't even find your body...'

He kept his face still though it was difficult. Fear coursed through his body.

'I'll dispose of you accordingly. And they'll never know.'

'I have a family and friends! They'll find me!' He was shouting now. He couldn't hold his composure. This was sick.

'And they'll never know what happened to you. If your alive or dead... It'll be... A great mystery.

'That's not a mystery!' He did think about it though, that would be an amazing mystery, painful for those who wondered. But a mystery had to be solved and Beckett would solve it.

'Oh yes it is! You're a great mystery writer you should know. The feeling, the pain they'll go through, never really knowing What happened to their friend... their father... their son... and then I can go on torturing them forever... it's the ultimate pleasure... torturing you... then forever torturing your loved ones.

'You won't get away with this. They will find you and you will get caught.'

'no they wont... they'll never know what happened to you... what I did to you... if you suffered... or for how long... No one will ever know what happened in this room and what you were feeling...'

'Please...' Castle was speechless. His body was frozen and stiff.

'Beg me Castle... I want to hear you beg for your life...'

'You still won't let me go...

'No I won't... Do you know what I'm going to do?'

His silence was all he had left, all he could hold onto.

'I'm going to torture you... for weeks... then, I'm going to kill you and burry your body under these floors... And no one will ever know'

'What do you want from me?'

'What do I want?' Her smile looked lifeless, dead. 'I want to hear you scream...'

Castle felt like his heart had dropped in his chest. He flicked his eyes quickly down to his wrists then back at her eyes. He twisted them around, trying to loosen the space between his arm and the chair arm.

'Honey, I did it up tight, you're not going anywhere.'

'How many people have you killed?'

'You really want to know?'

'Yes!' He was in a slight panic, pulling at his wrists and trying to move his feet.

'Two women. I didn't like it as much. Fourteen men and from the first man I killed, I knew I didn't want women anymore.'

'Sixteen people?'

'And counting. So tell me again why I'll get caught.'

'how do you choose them?'

'the men I kill? Why?'

'I want to understand you.'

She smiled again, this time she looked amused. 'It's if I find them attractive. That's how I choose. I have to be attracted to them to be able to torture them.'

'So you find me attractive?'

She chuckled. 'Why yes I do Richard Castle.'

His throat felt dry and cracked. He couldn't take in air as well. He breathed hard against it.

'Let's get started.' Jennifer said enthusiastically.

Those words repeated in his ears. The pain was about to begin.


	3. Pick Up The Phone!

Beckett sat at her desk the next day. Castle didn't even bother to show up. It did worry her slightly but from what she said yesterday, he was probably sleeping. She decided to give him a call anyway. She dialed in his number and waited.

'Hi this is Richard Castle, I'm not here at the moment but leave a message and I'll call you back when I can. K bye.'

'Castle pick up your phone, its Kate.' She hung up. It wasn't like him to not pick up a call from her. It only took a few moments before her work phone rang. She picked it up. 'Beckett'

'Kate. It's Richard's mother, Martha.'

'Hi, how are you?'

'Not so good actually. Did Richard show up to work today?'

'Ah, no not yet.'

'He didn't come home last name and Alexis and I are worried.'

'He didn't come home? I sent him home at about 11am because he had nothing to do…'

'Well I was home all day and night and he never came home.'

'I'll try calling him again.' She picked up her mobile phone and clicked redial.

'Hi this is Richard Castle, I'm not here at the moment but'

She hung up. 'He's not answering. Okay I'm officially worried.'

'What should I tell Alexis?'

'That I'll find him.'

.

.

Kate rounded up Esposito and Ryan. 'So no one's seen him in the last 23 hours. Where could he be?'

'Well knowing Castle he could be just about anywhere.' Esposito answered.

'That's not helping.'

'Sorry.'

'Where would he go? Straight home? Or would he stop off somewhere?' Ryan asked.

'Did he have anything to do? I'll go to his house and check and see if I can find any appointments. Esposito, you stay here in case he calls and Ryan, you try and track his car see if anyone saw him.'

They nodded as she walked from the office. She would find Castle no matter what.

.

.

'Hey Martha, I'm just gonna check his room and see if there's anything to indicate he had an appointment or had to meet anyone.'

'Of course, his room is this way.' She led Kate to his room and then left her alone to search through his belongings.

'Okay, where to start?' It did feel odd for her to be going through his private belongings but if she was going to find him, he would have to get inside his head. She checked his cupboard. There wasn't much there, just shoes all lined up and his clothes which were hung neatly. She closed the cupboard door and checked under his bed. There was a small trunk underneath and Kate pulled it out carefully.

She opened it up and founds 3 photo albums full of baby pictures of Alexis, old photos of himself as a child and a few other innocent things. She closed the trunk and pushed it back under his bed. She twisted her head over to his bedside table. There were two photo frames sitting on top.

She walked towards it and picked the first one up. It was a picture of Alexis and Martha. Beckett smiled and placed it back down. She picked the second and she was shocked by it. It was a picture of herself and Castle. It looked like it had been taken in the office just by her desk. She didn't even know that it existed. She placed it back down on the table and checked each draw from bottom to top.

Inside the top draw there were two books. The first was clearly an appointment book but the other looked more like a journal. She picked them both up but was hesitant to open the journal, instead she opened the appointments books. There was nothing that she could see that indicated he had a meeting with anyone. She decided to keep both books as evidence and take them back to work with her.

.

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'I traced his car.' Ryan spoke up as Kate returned to the office.

'And?'

'We found it abandoned in the middle of town and that's not it, we dusted for prints… nothing. Not even castles prints. It was completely clean.'

'Okay that's weird. So ether he's a neat freak or someone cleaned it out and dusted it off. They were covering their tracks.' She rubbed her eyes. 'Castle where are you?'

Ryan looked at Esposito grimly. 'This isn't looking good.'

'We have to stay on track. What would we do in this situation?' Kate answered.

'We'd contact his family, asked them if anything was bothering him.' Esposito answered.

'I'll talk to Alexis. I've already talked to Martha and she doesn't know anything.'

'Did you find anything at his house?' Ryan asked.

'Just an appointment book and a journal.'

'He keeps a journal? Did you read it?'

'No I didn't. Last resort guys.'

.

.

Kate stood up as Alexis walked into the school office. They were alone now.

'Did you find dad?'

'Not yet. Did he tell you he was going anywhere?'

'No… He seemed fine when he went to work and I didn't see him again. He didn't come home… I remember I was so late that day and I didn't have time to kiss him goodbye. I just left..' She began to sob.

Kate grabbed her and pulled her into a long hug. 'We will find him. I promise.'


	4. His Savior

Castle sat on his own, right where Jenifer left him. He let his head fall in front of him. It had been what seemed like weeks since he had woken up in this hell hole but he knew logically it couldn't have been that long. He forced a strained cough in an attempt to clear his throat. Pain surged through his body after his last encounter with her. For now she was gone, but she would return any minute and the pain would begin again. He twisted his wrists, trying to loosen them, but he knew it was useless. He was stuck there until Kate came to save him and she _would_ save him, he was positive.

Footsteps sounded above causing Castle to shiver. What more could she do to him? Her last visit had left him with bruises from head to toe. He didn't really want to think about what else could happen. The door opened and she made her way towards him.

'Castle, how do you feel?' She asked with a crooked smile.

'Dandy.' He answered.

She chuckled a bit. 'Of course you do.' She let her fingers slide over the bruise on his shoulder that she had caused. 'Do you still think your little friends are coming to save you?' Her voice was clearly sarcastic.

'Yeah, I do.' Castle answered. His voice was strong, he was certain Beckett would find him with the help of Ryan and Esposito. He didn't have a doubt in his mind, he just hoped it wouldn't be too late.

'You poor thing… Clearly I haven't beaten you enough.' She smiled as she walked towards the table from the other side of the room. She dragged it towards him and picked up one of the utensils sitting on top.

Castles eyes followed her hands as they reached for him. He wanted nothing more than to run, but the restraints around his limbs removed that possibility. Instead, all he could do was sit and wait for her to inflict another agonizing amount torture upon him. And the pain did come. He yelped when he felt her cut into the flesh in his arm. He looked down quickly to assess the damage she has caused and noticed the cut wasn't as deep or as big as he thought it would be. Blood lightly oozed out of the small cut. She continued making small lacerations all over his arms. Each one would only be about a centimeter long and 2 millimeters deep. Castle wondered why she bothered, though the cuts were uncomfortable and caused minor pain, it was hardly as bad as the beating he had received from her a few hours ago.

He whimpered quietly as she made each cut, hoping it was just an attempt at scaring him, but knowing deep down that it wasn't. Finally she stepped back. Looking at her work she made dozens of tiny cuts all up and down both of his arms. Little bits of blood hardened on his flesh. She smiled at him before setting the knife down. 'This is the fun part.'

Those words sent chills down his spine. What was next?

She took a small towel off the table and rubbed it roughly over all the cuts. It stung a little, but it wasn't unbearable. When she had finished she put the towel down and picked a silver cylinder up off the table. Castle looked down at his arms and noticed they were all bleeding again. He looked back up at her and then at the cylinder. She grinned at him right before shaking the object over his arms.

They immediately began to seer in pain. He could smell the substance that had dusted over his body and recognized it as being salt. It didn't take a genius to realize even without the smell. The sting of each small fragment making its way into the tiny cuts that covered him was evidence enough. He gritted his teeth and groaned when she shook another layer onto his skin. The stinging was agonizing, but it was bearable for now. He screwed up his face and hoped it would end soon.

After shaking enough salt onto his body so that both of his arms were covered, Jennifer put the salt shaker down and moved in closer. Castle was clearly struggling to keep his composure, but he hadn't screamed yet, and that's what she really wanted. She ran her finger across his arm, making him wince in pain. She smiled a bit. 'Scream for me…' She looked him in the eyes as she squeezed her hands around his arms, pushing the salt deeper into the wounds.

He didn't want to, but he couldn't control it. Castle let out a deep, agonizing cry.

.

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When Jennifer had finally left the room, Castle had a moment to think. His arms were still stinging but the pain was less intense now. He wasn't sure how long he'd been down there, but his best guess was 2 days. He worried about Alexis. She would know he was missing now, she'd know that something bad had happened and she'd be worrying like crazy. So would his mother. He'd give anything to call them and tell them he was alive.

Beckett would definitely know he was gone, she would be looking and before long, she'd find him and take him home. It was the only thing he could hold onto in this dark place. The knowledge that Kate was not the kind to give up… She would be his savior…


End file.
